FIFA's ethics watchdog on Friday slapped a lifetime ban on Najeeb Chirakal, an aide to disgraced ex-Asian football chief Mohamed bin Hammam, over bribery and corruption.
Chirakal was a key figure in Bin Hammam's controversial bid to become FIFA president in 2011, when the Qatari's camp was accused of paying bribes to executive members for votes. The ruling from the adjudicatory chamber of FIFA's ethics committee did not name Bin Hammam, who was himself banned from football for life in June 2011. But a FIFA statement said judges "found that Mr. Chirakal had been involved in several unethical payments made on behalf of a third party to various football officials between 2009 and 2011".
Chirakal also failed to cooperate with ethics investigators and the panel found him guilty of "conflict of interest" as well as "bribery and corruption", among other offences, the statement said. He had been suspended from football since October 2012. Bin Hammam had been a notorious figure within world football and was seen as the key player in Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
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